The core tenets of democracy — America’s most valuable export — are in the spotlight again next week. Over the years, it’s been our unique honor to have played a small role in spreading democracy. I and other team members have carried out strategic communications work in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Armenia and Bolivia. Today, we are importing some of those same ideas and ideals into Pennsylvania.
On behalf of the Democracy Defense Project, we helped to launch a state effort to demystify and explain the electoral process to the public and protect our democratic tenets. The organization was formed to defend the transparency, safety, security and validity of the elections system in the United States.
The Pennsylvania board of the Democracy Defense Project – former Pennsylvania elected officials Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Reps. Melissa Hart and Jim Gerlach and state House Speaker Keith McCall – recently participated in a panel discussion with PennLive to discuss the validity and integrity of the voting process, voter confidence in the state’s election process, bipartisan oversight of all election results and pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots.
The project doesn’t support candidates or political parties. It cuts through the noise and publicly defends those who have sworn to uphold the rule of law so the public can confidently vote and have faith in the results.
We have joined many others working to maintain free and fair elections.
Former Gov. Tom Corbett is a national board member and chair of the Pennsylvania Advisory Council for Keep Our Republic, focused on election integrity to assure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote and that votes are counted and properly certified.
Additionally, former Gov. Mark Schweiker co-chairs RightCount’s operations in Pennsylvania, with the mission to help fortify and protect the rule of law in the tabulation of voting across the country.
Efforts like these help to keep Pennsylvania’s election process secure now, while public policymakers consider future changes.
To underscore the need to protect election integrity, it’s important to realize how elections have changed over the last several years. Today, 29 states including Pennsylvania offer some form of “no-excuse” mail-in/absentee voting, where any voter can request and cast a ballot by mail with no reason necessary. Eight states and Washington, D.C., automatically mail voters a ballot. All other states require a voter to provide an excuse to qualify for a mail-in ballot.
And a requirement for voter identification is more common than not. Currently, 36 states, not including Pennsylvania, require voters to present an ID to vote at the polls on Election Day. The remainder use other methods to verify a voter’s identity.
Democracy works well when you know what the rules are and follow them. Let’s continue the robust political debate, adhere to the Constitution, and trust and accept the results post-Election Day regardless of the outcome.
